No Closer Bond
by COOKIECHEESEMAN
Summary: Complete. "I will not stop this relationship from progressing," Seth assured them. "However, the two of you must be prepared for the consequences." EphraimxEirika fic, also starring Seth as their well-meaning mentor. Warning: this is an incest fic.
1. How it Began

Author's Notes

Well, I've officially jumped the shark as a crack pairing enthusiast; I've written an incest fic. My reasonings on why will be explained at the end of the chapter. Please be advised that this fic is rated T for a reason!

If you don't like the concept, you don't have to read it. However, I really hope that the fact that it IS incest will not detract from the quality of the story, or impact what is written in people's reviews too much.

Keep in mind that any and all guest reviews will be deleted. And don't just write a review stating why this fic is a bad idea. Please keep any criticism of the fic CONSTRUCTIVE; I don't mind people pointing out if they're not comfortable with the idea, because I'm sure many people aren't, but please have something positive to say as well.

* * *

No Closer Bond

Chapter 1: How it Began

It all started when they were young.

As royal twins, Ephraim and Eirika did everything together in the days of their youth, and no one could keep them apart. With parents who were busy doing their duties for their kingdom and no other children their age to play with, what choice did they have but to always be with each other? Sure, there were some in their age group from neighbouring kingdoms, but the occasions to be with these other children were few and far between.

And when it came right down to it, they would rather spend their time just each other if they had the choice.

Their parents noticed this quite quickly, and although at first they were happy that their children got along so well, eventually they noticed that something else was going on too, and the twins didn't grow out of their unusual closeness like their parents had hoped. In fact, their bond only grew stronger and stronger as the twins grew older.

The worried parents decided to take matters into their own hands. Despite the tears that fell from Eirika's eyes the first time they were forced to bathe separately, King Fado and his wife went to great lengths to make sure their children weren't with each other unless it was necessary. Ephraim and Eirika still studied together at school and under their retainer, Seth, and the family would eat together whenever possible, but other than times like these, the two siblings were mostly kept apart from each other.

This, of course, didn't stop the resourceful twins.

It started with the midnight baths. Once Ephraim was taught how to run the bathwater, the prince and princess would meet once a week to bathe together while everyone else was asleep. The two of them would look forward to these nights, and they rarely ever missed them. Here, they would always talk about their deepest concerns, though most of the time it was Eirika pouring out her feelings while Ephraim calmly listened. It was a beneficial arrangement for both of them.

As well, during these occasions, they learned more about the human anatomy than could ever be taught during their school tutoring. Eirika never forgot the blush that she extracted from Ephraim the first time his body involuntarily reacted to her changing body, which catered to a mischievous side of her that she rarely displayed. Although, in his defense, she wasn't prepared for it either. As they grew older, so also did their understanding of each other in this way.

Seth was the first to really question what the siblings were up to, for while the parents felt they had nipped their problem in the bud, so to speak, Seth could tell that his twin lieges were not dismayed in the long run from their parents' decisions. On the twins' 16th birthdays, he accidentally found them together in the bath, sharing their very first kiss.

When the two of them eventually noticed their retainer watching them, Eirika gasped, and Ephraim held onto his sister protectively, prepared to do anything to prevent the two of them from being separated at that moment.

Seth left without a word.

He did, however, confront them the next evening after the family finished dining. They were worried that Seth would tell their parents everything, but that had not been the case. The three of them spoke freely with each other for a while, where the twins confessed everything. At the end of the conversation, Seth promised he wouldn't say anything to his king and queen, but he uttered one statement that would come back to haunt them in the future:

"I will not stop this relationship from progressing," Seth assured them. "However, the two of you must be prepared for the consequences."

* * *

The twins understood their retainer was only trying to help, but they didn't take his words seriously. As they continued to grow ever closer, they would hold hands whenever they were alone, as well as sit much too close to each other when sitting by the fireplace, and a few times they were caught by their parents, which led to severe reprimanding. During these times, Ephraim and his father would argue angrily with each other, while Eirika would cry in the corner and her mother would simply watch them in disappointment, even days before her eventual death.

Even worse, the last time they saw their father together, Fado had cautioned them that they were treading down a dangerous road, effectively giving reasons that expanded on Seth's warning.

One: there was the risk of no heir to the throne.

Two: the royal bloodline could be forever tainted if children _were_ born from them.

Three: the people of Renais would revolt, regardless of whether the unholy matrimony resulted in an heir or not.

Four: the neighbouring kingdoms could withdraw all support for Renais because of the actions of its king and queen.

Five: the reputation of their beloved Renais would be forever tarnished.

"If you continue following this perverted path," their father rebuked, "you will destroy the Renais that you know and love, and it will be _entirely your fault_."

Those were the last words their father said to them before they were attacked by the kingdom of Grado. The twins just barely escaped together as their father was killed in front of them by one of the army's generals.

As the War of the Stones came into full effect after that day, the royal siblings thought about the words of their mentors, and they concluded that they very well could be right about their future. So throughout the war, they tried to keep their relationship a secret, even making sure they slept in separate tents.

However, they could not keep their feelings in check.

Ephraim could never truly hide his desire; no, his _need_ ; to take care of his sister. It was clear to everyone that he had a soft spot for her that was much softer than it should have been. Eirika could never fully mask the delight she felt whenever her brother was nearby, especially when they sat together by the fireplace. While a few of their friends saw the siblings tenderly kissing each other by the fire when they thought they were alone, they never said anything. Even when the private sessions between the twins eventually got more physical, they didn't have the heart or the courage to bring up the subject to them, even though the two of them never got intimate.

No, the intimacy didn't come into play until their 18th birthdays, where they gave _themselves_ to each other as their birthday gifts.

This special day for the incestuous twins coincidentally occurred on the same day they took their beloved Renais back from Grado.

After that point, the War of the Stones was nearly over, relatively speaking. After their final enemy was eventually conquered and sealed into the last of the remaining Sacred Stones, everyone went back to their respective kingdoms to start in the rebuilding work. Ephraim and Eirika were officially inaugurated as the new king and queen of Renais, of course, but there was the obvious expectation for them to find their own spouses and to produce the next heirs for the throne. Even after the restoration of the kingdom was finished years later, the siblings still had not found mates, for reasons that were only obvious to them and the few who were close enough to them. Nevertheless, the populace still respected their current king and queen, especially when they considered all of the good the sibling duo had accomplished.

Their opinion of their rulers, however, would change drastically once they found out about Eirika's pregnancy.

When it was revealed to the incestuous twins that they would be expecting their first child, the memories of Seth's warning rang loudly through their heads:

" _However, the two of you must be prepared to face the consequences."_

* * *

Author's Notes

Why did I come up with this idea? Well... I'm not entirely sure. I was in a period of an extraordinary amount of inspiration for fics, (the most I'd had in years) and somehow the idea of writing about the twins of Renais was one of them. I tried to push it out of my mind, but it wouldn't go away. So... here I am. I will say I did get some inspiration from the fic Inappropriate by masserect, especially for the bathing scenes. I had first read the fic over a year ago, and I recommend you give it a read yourselves.

I wonder if anyone noticed the amount of canon-breaking this fic contained? :p

Please be aware that incest is not something I am into, nor is it something I will ever endorse. It is something I would never want to do in real life. Hopefully this fic doesn't label me as (more of a) weirdo. :D

Despite my misgivings about this fic, I'm proud of it, as well as curious about how people will react, if they react at all. I hope that anyone who does review this fic uses common sense and doesn't just rant about how this is a bad fic. That's not fun for anybody. All in all, though, I greatly appreciate any feedback that I do get about this fic. That means people are reading it, thinking about it, and maybe even enjoying it. And that's what writing's about, right?

By the way, hopefully everyone checks out my profile poll! I've listed a bunch of fics that I'm willing to write a sequel for, and you get to pick all but one of them to vote for, and the one with the most votes gets the sequel written for it, so vote for multiple fics if you wish! The results will (hopefully) be released at the end of my next A Glimmer of Hope chapter. On that note, I'll be writing another oneshot before my next AGOH chapter, so stay tuned!

This fic may turn out to be my first two-chapter only fic. Hopefully I'll see you at the conclusion of this sibling drama!


	2. How it Finished

Chapter 2: How it Finished

Despite the fact that they knew life would never be the same after Eirika's pregnancy was revealed, Ephraim and Eirika were both still happy that their union produced life; what greater purpose could there be but to raise a child that was entirely their own? The worry of how to inform the public still hung in their minds, but at least for one day, they could celebrate on their own.

Seth as well had mixed feelings over the inevitable arrival of the next heir to the throne. He still knew what was to come for the kingdom of Renais, and it was not a bright future, as far as he was concerned. They could be exiled, or even attacked again, except this time with no one to back them up. The heir could be unstable; legends told that those born of family members had the potential to be physically or mentally damaged, with no hope of recovery.

But a small part of him felt great pride over the fact that his twin lieges were to be parents. He remembered when his former king and queen were first expecting, and he pondered how their fruitage could handle Renais.

He had nothing to worry about.

Despite a great war that threatened the existence of life itself, the sibling duo had been able to defeat the odds and bounce back, catapulting Renais to an era of peace and prosperity that he had never experienced in his lifetime, or that even existed in the last few centuries according to the history books. They accomplished in a few short years what many rulers haven't been able to do in their entire lifetimes. Plus, ever since the twins' births, he was looking forward to serving the future heir or heirs to the throne.

He just expected any and all heirs to come from four people, not two.

And certainly not two from the same family.

* * *

They kept the pregnancy quiet in the castle for a while, but eventually even the most oblivious of the castle servants could tell that Eirika was getting larger from the bun in her oven, not from _eating_ too many buns. When this happened, the twins and Seth called every castle worker in for an important meeting, as they labelled it, and revealed the entire truth to them.

They were not allowed to leave until they swore on their lives not to tell a soul outside of the castle, even to their spouses, until the pregnancy was formally announced to the public. They agreed to these terms out of respect for their rulers, even though they were obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

As the child in Eirika's womb grew, she was very careful to not leave the castle unless hidden in a carriage, and she only spoke to the public from a window that concealed her body from the chest down to avoid suspicion, but she and her brother knew that they couldn't wait much longer to break the news to the people of Renais. So the two of them, along with Seth, discussed for an entire night about the best course of action for the big announcement.

Eventually, they came up with a solution.

They invited their closest friends from the neighbouring kingdoms and decided to plead for their aid.

Prince Innes and Princess Tana came from Frelia, and Princess L'Arachel came from Rausten. Former general Duessel came as the acting ruler of Grado, as they were still in their rebuilding stages even after a few years and there was no legitimate heir to the throne. And Saleh, as the new chieftain of Caer Pelyn, came as an ambassador representing Jehanna due to new territory agreements with the recently kinged Joshua, who was busy with negotiations with the republic of Carcino.

In short, they had friends in high places. From all four of the neighbouring kingdoms, in fact.

None of them were too surprised when the incestuous twins revealed their relationship and future child, as they had all but noticed what they were up to during the war. Eirika was understandably embarrassed when her best friend, Tana, accidentally gave away that Eirika's neck was full of hickeys whenever she sat by the campfire with her brother too long, but it didn't seem to worry Ephraim much.

He was more concerned with the issues at hand. Which forced him to do something he never expected to have to do.

He got on his knees and begged.

Begged his peers not to judge him or his sister. Begged them not to attack them or withdraw their support for their taboo acts. Begged them not to cut themselves off as their friends for what they've done.

Surprisingly for him, they agreed to everything he asked for. As was mentioned, these were the siblings' closest friends. Save for the two of them to be involved in something unjust like murder or slander, they would not abandon Eirika and Ephraim or cut off ties simply because of their perverted actions. What they did was not directly harming anyone, and it was out of love. Tana even hugged Eirika as proof of their sincerity, who shed tears of joy as thanks for their understanding.

Ephraim sighed in relief. The first hurdle was cleared; worrying about how the rest of Magvel's leaders would react. At that point, then, there was only one more thing to do: inform the public.

He had a feeling that this would be the more difficult hurdle to surpass than the first.

* * *

The next day, Ephraim made a royal decree to the people, stating that there would be a major announcement on the day following that one, and everyone was to gather in front of the castle to hear what their king had to say. The people were clearly curious as to what this announcement was, for the murmurs were endless for the rest of the day throughout the kingdom. The only hint Ephraim gave was that it was related to the visit of the other kingdom's representatives to Renais.

Some wondered if Ephraim was going to marry Tana, or Innes to Eirika, and finally unite Renais and Frelia once the Frelian siblings became the rulers of their kingdom. Or maybe, there would be a marriage, and they would split and create a brand new kingdom. The possibilities were endless.

Upon hearing the rumours, the royal twins almost felt guilty that nobody would see it coming; the _real_ purpose of the announcement.

* * *

The moment had finally arrived. The entire kingdom was surrounding the castle, and the entire castle guard was out in front protecting the front gate. When Ephraim emerged from the main balcony, adorned in the clothes that his father had worn when he first became king of Renais, the crowd became silent.

"Renais!" he began, as he held his hand in the air to command attention, "you've been waiting to find out what I have to announce to you as my people. Before I do, however, let me introduce to you the representatives of the other four kingdoms, who I previously mentioned are Eirika and I's royal visitors."

The crowd cheered as he brought out everyone, and he gave introductions concerning who they were and their royal status for those who didn't know. After the introductions were finished, Ephraim gave an inspiring speech on how they all fought together in the recent war, and how by working together they were able to achieve peace. He then reaffirmed the fact that these representatives _personally_ gave him the guarantee that they and their kingdoms would never withdraw their support no matter what happened, which included the five visitors swearing an oath of loyalty before the entirety of Renais right at that moment, and the crowd cheered again.

Ephraim purposely lined everything up this way. The crowd would be the most attentive to what Ephraim said at the beginning of his speech, as they eagerly awaited the special announcement. That was the best time to make sure that everyone knew that no matter what Ephraim said next, they didn't have to worry about being attacked or losing their help in case things went dire.

The easy part was out of the way.

Now came the moment that everyone had been waiting for.

Whether they wanted it or not.

"Now, the reason I called everyone here," Ephraim boomed, and the crowd became silent again. "With our friends here in our presence, I am here to announce... that I have selected a bride to rule with me as the permanent queen of Renais."

The crowd whispered in anticipation, hanging on Ephraim's every word.

"She is, in fact, here with us today to reveal herself to everyone."

The crowd's chatterings became louder, and from Ephraim's vantage point the crowd seemed like they were almost salivating, like a dog watching a juicy steak dangling in front of its face. The prince was finally going to get married! Who would it be to? Tana? Or was it someone hiding in the back?

 _But wait a minute... shouldn't Princess Eirika be here to listen to this?..._

The crowd slowly seemed to all have the same thought, for the word "Eirika" could be heard throughout the whole crowd. Where was she?

"And now..."

 _Well... here it comes..._

"I give you... your queen of Renais!"

The crowd watched in anticipation, but the smiles slowly started turning into frowns as Eirika walked closer and closer to the end of the balcony from the inside of the castle, a smile of pride on her face despite the tense atmosphere.

When she stood beside her brother, and they both placed a hand on Eirika's enlarged stomach, the crowd's expression changed from shock to outrage.

"WHAT?!"

"IS HE SERIOUS? HE IMPREGNATED HIS SISTER?"

"WE CAN'T LET THIS STAND!"

The crowd then charged the castle gate in unison, and the guards held their ground in anticipation for the charging populace. They successfully held them off for a long time, but the sheer number of them is wearing the guards down. It wouldn't be long until they broke through.

And it is at this point then; with the entirety of Renais against them, that the royal siblings again remembered Seth's warning as they hurried inside the castle:

" _However, the two of you must be prepared to face the consequences."_

"I'm sorry, sister," Ephraim whispered to Eirika, and he tenderly stroked her cheek to hopefully give her some comfort before the inevitable happened and the crowd stormed the castle. "I had hoped..."

"I am fine..." she replied, and she nuzzled into her brother's neck and played with his hair. "Even if we perish, I don't regret anything."

Ephraim nodded in agreement. "Neither do I."

This seemed to trigger some sort of unspoken signal to the royal visitors, for they all wordlessly grabbed their weapons in unison and walked towards the door, guarding it in order to protect their friends who would soon be in trouble. They hoped not to hurt anyone, but if anyone got through and threatened to hurt the twins, or worse, the unborn baby...

"STOP!"

The yell echoed throughout the castle and also to the outside courtyard, for the crowd instantly stopped their rampage to see who called out to them from inside. Within a few moments, a lone figure emerged on the balcony, and his discerning eyes watched the crowds closely.

Seth.

"Do you not realize how childish you're all acting?" he called out to the crowd, and he mentally prepared himself for how to address the hostile crowd. "For those unaware, I am Seth, and not only do I serve as the King and Queen's main retainer and knight, but I served a similar position under their parents' rule as well."

Those words exuded a sense of authority and freeness of speech on Seth's part, which signaled the crowd to listen to him. _This man seems important, we should listen to what he's saying,_ they thought to themselves, if only for a few minutes.

After he collected his thoughts, Seth cleared his throat, and began a speech of his own:

"People of Renais, we all know that you want answers, and that you're upset with the way things have turned out. This is understandable. However, regardless of how you feel, that is no excuse to behave as you are as a people right now. You really think what you're doing is the most rational and mature answer to this problem?"

The crowd remained silent.

"Now, you may think what our dear Ephraim and Eirika have done is wrong; not only committing incest, but even conceiving a child together. Many of you may think what they've done is not only disgusting, but perverted as well. You would be correct if you thought this way. Even I myself would agree with you... however, all of you ask yourselves this question, and I asked myself this as well: 'has their unbreakable love for each other personally harmed me or disadvantaged me in any way?'"

Nobody in the crowd could honestly answer "yes" to that question.

"Next, think about this. Both of them personally asked the representatives of the other four kingdoms for their aid. Your king even got on his _hands and knees_ and _begged_ them not to cut off ties or end their friendship. Do you know how they reacted? They did not even _hesitate_ in replying that nothing could destroy their close friendship with the twins, especially during the war. Your rulers wanted to make sure their people didn't have to worry about being attacked from the neighbouring kingdoms in case of another major threat, or even in general. How many of you have that kind of humility?"

Again, the crowd could not answer. A few mumbles here and there, but nothing concrete.

"Lastly, think about what the sibling duo have accomplished just in the span of a few years. Not only did they take the lead in a worldwide war not long after their father passed away, but times have never been better for Renais, at least for the last couple hundred years. Bandit attacks have almost disappeared, poverty has dropped immensely and is still falling, and our economy is booming."

As Seth spoke, he felt an emotion brew inside him, but he couldn't place what it was. Eventually, though, he figured out what it was:

Anger.

He was angry at the crowd for insensibly reacting without thinking about the situation. However, he was also angry at himself for not having faith in Ephraim and Eirika. Not only were they helping the people, but they were making the best of the situation.

 _I have to make amends for them..._

The anger also briefly made him lose control of his emotions, which lead him to shout again:

"What _right_ do you have to judge them for what they've done?"

As he realized that that came out harsher than intended, he cleared his throat again and spoke in a normal voice: "So at this point then, it may be best for everyone to return to their homes and think about what's gone on today. Until your king and queen do something deplorable that negatively affects yourselves or the kingdom, I suggest that the subject never be brought up again and for everyone to go on with their lives. Everyone knows what's going on now. Please enjoy the rest of your day."

And with a bow, he entered the castle again, and the crowd discussed the day's events as they left the vicinity. As Seth walked through the room to the door, he settled his gaze on the incestuous couple and nodded his head in their direction.

"Like I had mentioned, the two of needed to be prepared to face the consequences of your actions..."

This time, though, Seth smiled as he continued speaking:

"However, I will do everything I can to support you, down to the bitter end, if that is where we're destined to go."

Ephraim and Seth locked eyes, and they shook each other's hand.

"Ephraim, Eirika... let's hope that it never comes to that."

* * *

EPILOGUE

Of course, the people of Renais never fully supported the twins' decision regarding their choice of mates, but they eventually came to respect them again, especially concerning how well the kingdom continued to flourish. The neighbouring kingdoms eventually heard the news about Renais' rulers, but those who were there the day of the big announcement did everything in their power to make sure peace was kept with them. Thankfully, nothing bad ever resulted from this, and the continent of Magvel kept its peaceful relationships for millenniums.

When the big day arrived and Eirika went into labour, the entire populace was holding its breath; hoping, _praying_ , that the child would be all right. Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, Eirika gave birth to beautiful twins of her own, a boy and a girl, and they named them after themselves. Seth's first thought was whether to eventually tell the twins of their parents' relationship as brother and sister, and the three of them decided to keep it a secret until it was necessary to reveal such information.

While the twins had no physical abnormalities, it was apparent within the first year that there were some... deficiencies in their mental abilities. However, what they lacked in some areas, they made up for with others. For example, the daughter, Eirika, could not understand math or any other academic studies for the life of her. And yet, she understood nature and animals better than anyone, and when she grew up, she eventually left the castle and became the most proficient herbalist in the kingdom before she even turned 20. She eventually married and had beautiful children of her own.

The other twin, Ephraim, turned out a bit differently. He excelled in his schooling, but his social life was plagued by little quirks he possessed. Although they didn't prevent him from having friends, they made normal everyday conversation and communication more complicated for him than for other kids, and certainly made courting a girl to be his queen even more difficult than it should have been. In fact, by his 25th birthday, even though he was running the kingdom well with the help of his parents, he was no closer to having a relationship than when he was born into the world.

He very well may have been forced to hold a "lottery" for his hand in marriage had it not been for L'Arachel's equally odd daughter, Faridah. She was an exaggerated version of her mother in every way, although she was much less egotistical; her father taught her (privately of course) that her mother had more ego than the world itself ever needed. She enjoyed the prince's quirks, as he was someone different from the norm. Faridah was very sickly from a young age, and she never even left her castle for her entire life until, ironically, Eirika cured her with an herbal medicine that she created all on her own. That led to her meeting Ephraim that weekend, as the Renais royal family was coincidentally visiting Rausten, and the rest is history. When they both took over Renais, they handled its problems in very unorthodox ways due to the make-up of the strange couple, but their methods worked almost every time, and the kingdom was always in good standing during their reign.

In the end, though, how did the incestuous twins end up? Well, even though they were still regarded by the public as perverted and sick-minded, in a sense, they still appreciated everything the siblings did to keep Renais at its best until their son became the next king with his wife.

The point was, though, that the two of them were never dismayed by anything anyone said about them. Even if they saw someone shudder if they witnessed them kissing, the twins knew that their love for each other was greater than the social norms around them. They eventually told their children about their forbidden relationship, but they didn't mind, especially since they themselves did not follow the same path.

Yes, they understood that there was no closer bond than the relationship between a brother and a sister...

...regardless of whether it was a good thing or not.

THE END

* * *

Author's Notes

Well, it's done! Thank goodness! Seth's bad-ass speech saved the day.

I have to thank Cormag Ravenstaff for helping me a little bit with one of the paragraphs in this fic! He had mentioned in his review that it seemed like I had something to prove with this fic... and while I can't put my finger exactly on what it is, I believe him. My only guess is that as a crack pairing enthusiast, I want ALL of my crack pairings to be not only well-received and liked, but also plausible. I wanted to prove that even a forbidden couple like this could work... and I think I succeeded in the end. I don't usually say something like that often, but I honestly think I did it this time; I think I accomplished my goals with this one. Of course, it depends on what you guys think though!

For the plan to work, I needed close friends of the twins (or at least one of the two) to represent the four other major kingdoms of Magvel... but nobody from Jehanna was a close friend, so I needed to make a loophole, using these points: 1) Saleh is one of Eirika's supports, so it's assumed she'd at least have a decent relationship with him. 2) Saleh doesn't seem to have parents around, so he'd understandably be next in line to run Caer Pelyn once his grandmother either passes on or is too frail to continue her responsibilities. 3) Caer Pelyn is, as far as I can tell, close enough to Jehanna that if Caer Pelyn BECAME part of a kingdom, it would be that one. 4) As the new head of Caer Pelyn, Saleh would have to have a type of "work" relationship with King Joshua, as they would have to communicate to discuss laws and things like that. 5) If King Joshua is busy and someone from his own castle can't suffice as a representative of the kingdom, any leader in a town in the kingdom could, in theory, be a viable substitute. If all five of those points line up, Saleh technically can count as Jehanna's representative in this circumstance... if we're being lenient. WHEW THAT WAS A LOT TO TYPE

The status of the twin's children was something that came up a couple of times in reviews and PMs after the release of the first chapter. Were their kids going to have problems because of inbreeding? Could they rule? What about the fate of the kingdom? Well, I knew I couldn't have the kids being deranged or missing limbs or something... but I also knew I couldn't have them not affected in some way. That wouldn't be realistic. Because this fic is 100% realistic. Obviously. :p I'm not sure why I wanted to have Ephraim and Eirika name their kids... Ephraim and Eirika, but I thought it was somewhat fitting for some reason.

So, I gave them each kid their own issues, but accompanied them with unique strengths. Eirika, though having no behavioural issues, had a learning disability, but she somehow had a knack for animals, nature, and its internal chemistry, leading to her becoming a world-class herbalist. Ephraim had forms of social awkwardness, anxiety, and odd quirks to his personality, but he was extremely book-smart, and with the help of his wife, they came up with bizarre, yet effective ways to run the kingdom.

By the way, Faridah is an Arabic name meaning "unique" according to the baby names site I use... which is actually the same meaning and origin as Tarif's name from my story A Glimmer of Hope, except Tarif is a boy's name and Faridah is a girl's name. I did this on purpose, to show why Faridah genuinely loves Ephraim and his unique personality. She needed to not meet him until relatively recently, though, because I needed Ephraim to age for a while before he got married, hence the sickly childhood.

So, are you in the mood for more incest?! Well, in that case, check out the anime **Oreimo**! It's... about incest. And it's actually quite good; it's one of the first anime shows I've ever watched. It's VERY funny, and the incest is actually handled very well throughout the show. One word of caution though: YOU MAY HAVE TO GO TO MULTIPLE SITES TO WATCH. Crunchyroll has the first 12 episodes of season 1, but then you'll have to watch the last four episodes on a site like animeplus. (there are two episodes near the end that share the same first half for the most part, but different endings) Then, Crunchyroll has the first 13 episodes of season 2, but you'll have to watch the last three episodes on another site like animeplus. I KNOW OF NO SITE THAT HAS ALL 32 EPISODES. Animeplus has 31 of them, it's just missing episode 12 of season 1, (despite how it's labelled) which you can catch on Crunchyroll. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ADBLOCKER TURNED ON THOUGH. I _strongly_ suggest you watch the show, even if you completely disagree with incest in real life like myself. Hammershlag doesn't like the show very much, but his opinion doesn't matter in this case. :D

If you've seen the show already, I'm sure there are good Oreimo fics on Fanfiction!

Well, now it's time for me to write a FE14 fic, and then update A Glimmer of Hope! Did everyone catch up on the latest chapter of AGOH I posted a week or two ago? It's... important.

Either way, thank you guys SO MUCH for keeping up with this fic, and for all of the support it's gotten, such as the wonderful reviews and almost 15 followers! That's amazing! I was surprised at how well received it was. I just hope people thought it was good, like _really_ good, because this is not a conventional pairing. I really appreciate the encouragement you guys gave me for it. Again, thank you guys _so much._

I'll see you at my next fic!

Signed, COOKIECHEESEMAN


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